


Breaking Automation

by Aoife



Category: Honor Harrington Series - David Weber
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-14
Updated: 2011-11-14
Packaged: 2017-10-26 01:57:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/277346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoife/pseuds/Aoife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU from Field of Dishonour. Mike wants Honor back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking Automation

By the time the were half way back to Manticore, Mike was about ready to tear out her hair. Honor was shutting down. Oh she moved, reacted, but she was no more than an automaton.

Mike had tried every damn trick she could think of, but that morning her steward reported that Nimitz had snarled at him when he tried to take food into the cabin. Automaton-Honor she could put up with, as long as she kept breathing, but if Nimitz was threatening someone carrying celery there was more of a problem. She had shared a room at the Academy with Honor for years. She was a Henke; her cousin was bonded to a tree-cat. Mike had done her research when she was younger and she sighed, and turned over the ship to her executive officer.

There was one thing left for her to try, and she threw up a brief prayer that Nimitz wouldn't attack her for it, and that it wouldn't break their friendship. She had seen Honor bloom with Paul, and in that blooming, she'd seen a woman she could love - but Honor and Paul were fascinating together, so she stayed quiet.  
With Paul dead, perhaps she could reach Honor. Perhaps ...

... She keyed in the override to Honor's door with trepidation, listening for Nimitz's snarl and entered the dayroom to find him lolling in one of the chairs.

"What are you up to Nimitz? I wish you could tell me how to reach her."

He bleeked and smiled in the manner of a tree-cat who had just found their very own celery patch. He flowed down from his position on the chair, and stalked across to the door to Honor's cabin. Throwing a look that said follow me over his shoulder, he tripped the sensor and led her into the darkened room.

Honor lay stiffly on the bed, eyes shut, but her breathing was wrong for sleep, and Mike perched on the edge of her bed.

She looked up at Nimitz, who bleeked quietly.

"Shall I kiss her, Stinker?"

She was only half-surprised when the tree-cat nodded deliberately, followed by a flurry of hand gestures the last of which she knew plenty well enough given how universal it was to soldiers everywhere. She knew he was sentient. Knew he understood. But the fact that the cat apparently had very graphic and raunchy sense of humor? That was entirely new...

"If this ends badly, I'm jettisoning every bit of celery on this ship!"

He bleeked again, and she leant down and kissed Honor.

~)o0O0o(~

Mike's kiss had been very soft, and Nimitz had bleeked almost gleefully, then flowed out of the room. And Honor's reflexes where just as acute as Mike should have remembered. She'd barely kissed Honor, but even that had been enough to get her pinned to the bed.

She swallowed and stretched, painfully aware of Honor's proximity and waited for Honor to make some sort of move. Even if it was going to end with her needing sick bay.

The door swished open again, and Nimitz bleeked almost angrily at his human.

Honor started briefly, and her eyes shone with tears.

"Mike?" Honor seemed to collapse in on herself, releasing Mike's hands in the process and rolling away from her. The bottom dropped out of Mike's stomach as she heard the hitch and she followed Honor on instinct.

They ended up curled around each other, with Nimitz between them and Honor sobbing. And Mike was grateful - but her hatred of Paul's killer shone fire bright.


End file.
